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12 | M R EP O RT COVER STORY When the Shelves Run Bare MReport takes a closer look at the ripple effects caused by supply chain issues on the housing market, and when we can target a return to the days of a normal supply of housing inventory. By Eric C. Peck O ver the past few years, supplies of items such as computers, video game systems, and other electronic devices have been hampered by a lack of semiconductor chips. Grocery store shelves have seen various items vanish from the shelves and take longer than expected to be re- supplied. In all these cases, supply-chain issues are at issue, either created by or complicated by the lingering effects of two years spent navigating a global health crisis. The housing industry is no different. What exists as a semiconductor chip in a video game console equates to nails, lumber, drywall, and other materials when it comes to new home construction. With housing demand continuing to soar and insufficient inventory leading to everything from bidding wars to increased rental activity, MReport takes a look at how the supply chain is impacting housing, and whether any relief is on the horizon. Not a New Problem I t was March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coro- navirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. The population adhered to local stay-at-home mandates as the nation and medical community attempted to get a grip on just what this new ill- ness was and how to contain it. Many also attribute this time as the genesis of the supply-chain issues we currently face, an on- going problem that put even more pressure on an already strained national housing inventory. The pandemic forced wood mills to shutter, factories to close, and put the world on pause, initiating ripple effects that continue even two years later. However, as Pat Stone, Williston Financial Group Chairman and CEO, noted, these issues may have been around long before March 2020,